(WTVR) – 50% of the Sprint Cup Series drivers at Joe Gibbs racing have at least one championship to their names. Given how successful he has been and how close he has come to his first over the last decade, it’s stunning to understand that Chesterfield’s Denny Hamlin isn’t one of them.
2016 will be his 11th full season on NASCAR’s top circuit. He has 26 career wins, 23 poles and has missed only one Chase since it’s inception. He has only finished out of the top ten in points in two of the full seasons in which he has run, and has come maddeningly close to grabbing that first ring, only to see teammate Kyle Busch get one before him last year.
“I get very frustrated” Hamlin said at this week’s NASCAR Media Tour in Charlotte. “When you look at how my Chase has ended, it’s been like, ‘that never happens’. I got to the point where I said stop telling me that never happens, because it always happens to me.”
Last year at Talladega, a loose roof hatch forced him to pit under green, and placed him in the back of the field. He was then caught up in a late race crash and finished 37th, failing to advance. In 2014, he was in the final four and leading at Homestead with 20 laps to go when his crew chief, Darian Grubb, had him stay out on a late race caution instead of getting fresh tires. He finished 7th in that race, and third in the championship. In 2010, he held the points lead at Phoenix and led most of the race, but had to pit for fuel, losing the race and a seemingly insurmountable points lead over Jimmie Johnson, who won the title the next week at Homestead. Despite all of his near-misses and struggles, Hamlin loves where he is in his career.
“I wouldn’t change where I’m at for the world” Hamlin said. “I know I’ve got the best mechanics, the best engineers at Joe Gibbs Racing, building fast cars every week. [Losing] is part of it, and you just have to hope that your luck turns around.”
As the 2016 season looms larger in the mirror each day, Hamlin is still dealing with one of his setbacks from last year. He had offseason surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered during a pickup basketball game, his second such injury in the last 5 years, and admitted he is not yet close to being 100%.
“I’m about at 50%, but it’s nothing that would keep me out of a race car” Hamlin said. “I’m about six and a half weeks post surgery, and I’m not where I want or should be right now. I’m getting there, a little more each day.”
Hamlin does not plan on giving up basketball as a hobby or as exercise, going so far as to build a court at his house. “I told him ‘I’ll save you a lot of money. Turn that thing into a swimming pool!!'” joked team owner Joe Gibbs. Still, there are no edicts to give up his off-track pursuits.
“He’s a workout guy” Gibbs said of Hamlin. “Loves sports, loves golf. I’m going to try to push him more towards golf.”
Hamlin is just as optimistic about the prospects for JGR to repeat their success in 2015, including winning another championship. “There’s no reason why we can’t win half the races and win a championship” Hamlin said. “Especially with the groups of drivers and crew chiefs that we have, especially with the success we had with this low downforce package. Implementing it for every race should be very good for us.”
Even though he could be a potential free agent at the end of the 2016 season according to reports, Hamlin shrugs off any idea of leaving the only team with which he’s ever run, and the one that gave him his initial start.
“We’ll be working on one” Hamlin said of a new contract. “I’ve got such a great relationship with JGR and FedEx that I’d be a fool to leave either one.”
